


Cop Killer

by Tarlan



Category: Dark Blue (TV)
Genre: Episode Tag, Gen, Trope Bingo Round 7
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-04
Updated: 2016-09-04
Packaged: 2018-08-12 23:24:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 716
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7953229
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tarlan/pseuds/Tarlan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was a different time and he'd been so focused on bringing criminals to justice that he hadn't noticed he'd crossed the line until it was too late.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cop Killer

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Michael Biehn August 2016 challenge  
> Meets Trope Bingo R7: extortion/blackmail

Seeing Carter Shaw again brought back old memories that Fry would sooner have forgotten. It had been a crazy time back then, working on a special task force to take down some of the worst criminals on the West Coast. Sacrifices had to be made, lines had to be crossed, and that meant getting your hands dirty on occasion. When the shit hit the fan, he'd looked after Number One, making sure he escaped relatively unscathed by letting others take the fall. It meant he'd had a pretty good career, reaching Lieutenant with a promotion to Captain just around the next corner but he'd thrown others, like Shaw, to the wolves.

The I.A.D. had focused their attention on the others, and though Shaw had been clean enough to stay in the Department, the taint from that time had lingered like a bad smell.

They had been friends once but Fry had drawn away, not wanting to be tainted by any further association when he had a promising career ahead of him, and more importantly, a strong desire to deliver justice. He'd transferred out and built a reputation for bringing in the bad guys. His track record for arrests was far better than any other unit. They all loved him, respected him... practically worshiped the ground he walked on. He'd done his job and had never taken a financial reward - a bribe. His reward was seeing scumbags put behind bars, or in a box; he really didn't care which.

Back then, during the height of the LAPD troubles when the accusations were flying, Shaw had called him a thug, trampling over the very laws they were supposed to uphold.

"You were a good cop once," Shaw murmured from the other side of the interview... interrogation table.

Fry thought about that. When he first started out he'd been naive, thinking he could change the world and make it a better place for everyone, but somewhere along that road from then to now he'd started walking the line, taking liberties, and playing loosely with the laws. The lines had become blurry, making it harder to find the balance between right and wrong, slipping occasionally, but he justified it as still working for the greater good. In light of what Shaw had done to bring him down, they weren't that different.

"You talk of good cops, bad cops as if the world is black and white. It's grey, Shaw, and I got results. I brought down scumbags selling drugs to kids in playgrounds. I made this town a better place."

"You tampered with evidence. You blackmailed others into helping you break the law." Shaw paused. "You killed a cop who wanted to get away from you. Who wanted to be a good cop."

Fry closed his eyes, wondering if Shaw had let that out intentionally in the hope of provoking a confession, implying either Kim or Noyce had talked. He did feel a pang of regret for what had happened to Chavez but Chavez hadn't left him much of a choice. He was a loose end that could have unraveled everything Fry had been creating if I.A.D. had tugged just a little. Except he could see now that it had all started to unravel some years ago, when he made that first deal with the kingpin drug dealer, Terry Isaiah.

"I was making a difference out there," he replied softly, but he could feel his voice wavering, losing conviction as he looked back on everything he had done over these last years.

"No. You crossed the line. You betrayed everything this badge represents... to serve and to protect. You became the bad guy."

As Shaw stood up and walked towards the door Fry wanted to shout at him, to tell him he was wrong, but it was like a light had suddenly flicked on inside his head and he could see all the ugliness he'd deliberately shut out; the lies, the extortions, the blackmailing... the murders committed either by his own hand or set up by him to leave no witnesses, no loose ends behind. The door closed softly behind Shaw and yet it sounded so loud in his ears, as if screaming out the worst crime of all, the murder of Chavez.

Cop killer.

END  
 


End file.
